Texas Tech University Athletics
Hays Goes For 1,400th Win On Saturday
February 25, 2005 | Baseball
Feb. 25, 2005
TEXAS TECH at ROCKHOUNDS COLLEGE CLASSIC
February 26-27, 2005
First American Bank Ballpark
Midland, Texas
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RED RAIDERS SET FOR ROCKHOUNDS COLLEGE CLASSIC
Texas Tech will take an 8-1 overall record down to the Permian Basin over the weekend as the Red Raiders will take part in the First Annual Midland Rockhounds College Classic at the First American Bank Ballpark in Midland. The Red Raiders are scheduled to play Lamar at 7 p.m. on Saturday and UTSA at noon on Sunday. Tech will wrap up tournament play against New Mexico State immediately following the game with UTSA.
This weekend's tournament was forced to undergo some last minute changes due to projected inclement weather. The round robin tournament, hosted by the Oakland A's Double-A Affiliate Midland Rockhounds, was originally scheduled for Thursday through Sunday but has been moved back one day to allow for better weather. The trip to Midland will be the first of two scheduled appearances for Tech there this season as the Red Raiders will take on Houston on March 15, also at First American Bank Ballpark.
Head Coach Larry Hays enters the tournament in search of his 1,400th coaching win that spans over a 35-year career. Tech's first win in the tournament will make him just the fifth coach in NCAA history to reach 1,400 wins. He enters the weekend with a career record of 1,399-753-3 and is Tech's all-time winningest head coach.
The Red Raiders come into the weekend fresh off a 7-0 shutout of the Dallas Baptist Patriots on Tuesday afternoon at Dan Law Field. The shutout was Tech's first since beating Kansas State 3-0 on April 17 of last year and was the first non-conference shutout since a 14-0 win over Seton Hall on Feb. 24, 2002.
Tickets for this weekend's tournament are available and can be purchased by calling the Midland Rockhounds Ticket Office at (432) 520-2255. Live game audio and statistics will be made available at www.texastech.com while fans in Lubbock can also hear the game on KKAM-1340.
THE COACHES
TEXAS TECH: Texas Tech Head Coach Larry Hays is now in his 19th season in control of the Red Raider baseball program. Hays began his collegiate head coaching career at nearby Lubbock Christian University where he remains the all-time winningest coach there and helped lead the Chaps to the 1983 NAIA National Championship. He is also the all-time winningest head coach at Texas Tech where he has a record of 704-372-2. He is the NCAA's fourth winningest active head coach with a record of 1,398-753-3.
NEW MEXICO STATE: New Mexico State is led by Rocky Ward who is in his fifth year at the school where he carries a record of 162-186-1...LAMAR: The Cardinals are led by Jim Gilligan who is in his 28th season at the school with a record of 953-591...UTSA: Sherman Corbett is in his fifth season with the Roadrunners where he has a record of 111-124.
HAYS NOW ONE WIN SHY OF 1,400
Texas Tech head coach Larry Hays is one win shy of becoming just the fifth coach in NCAA history to win 1,400 games in a career. Hays is currently the fourth winningest active NCAA head coach (fifth winningest all-time) with 1,399 wins trailing Texas' Augie Garrido, Gene Stephenson of Wichita State, Cliff Gustafson (former head coach at Texas) and Chuck Hartman at Virginia Tech.
Of his 1,399 career wins, 704 have come at Texas Tech where he is the school's all-time winningest head coach. Prior to his arrival at Tech he spent 16 seasons at nearby Lubbock Christian where he won 695 games and an NAIA national championship in 1983.
WINNINGEST NCAA DIVISION I HEAD COACHES
1. Augie Garrido, Texas (1,498-701-6) - 37 seasons
2. Gene Stephenson, Wichita State (1,461-465-3) - 28 seasons
3. Cliff Gustafson, Texas (1,427-373-2) - 29 seasons (retired)
4. Chuck Hartman, Virginia Tech (1,403-756-3) - 45 seasons
5. Larry Hays, Texas Tech (1,399-753-3) - 35 seasons
2005 RED RAIDERS MAKE MARK IN THE HISTORY BOOK
Texas Tech's 22-7 win over Western Illinois made a mark in the history book for the 2005 Red Raiders. Tech set a new school record on Sunday as the Red Raiders scored 13 runs in the third inning. The 13 runs surpassed the previous record of 12 runs scored against West Texas A&M in the fifth inning on Feb. 4, 2003.
A total of 13 Tech hitters went to the plate before Western Illinois ever recorded an out in the frame. All nine Tech hitters hit twice in the frame as Tech pounded out eight hits, including a grand slam by senior shortstop Cameron Blair.
FRESHMEN HITTING THE LONG BALL
Freshmen Chris Richburg (true frosh) and David Steffey (redshirt) have been Tech's leading home run hitters so far this season as the duo account for six of the team's nine long balls. Richburg and Steffey are both local products with Richburg coming to Tech from Frenship High School while Steffey is a Monterey High graduate.
Richburg has not only been hitting the long ball but he has also had one of the most productive bats on the team. He is currently batting .371 and leads the team with 17 RBI.
LAWFORD, McELROY COMBINE FOR SHUTOUT
Junior Adam Lawford and senior Tanner McElroy combined for a 7-0 shutout of Dallas Baptist on Tuesday to record the first shutout by Tech since a 3-0 win over Kansas State last season. The shutout was also the first over a non-conference opponent since 2002 when Tech defeated Seton Hall 14-0 on Feb. 24. Lawford and McElroy held a potent DBU squad to just seven hits while striking out five.
Lawford, a junior transfer from Grossmont C.C., has settled in after a shaky start in the season opener against New Mexico. In that game against the Lobos, he allowed four earned runs on five hits and went into the series against Northern Illinois with a 12.00 ERA. Since then, however, Lawford has been one of Tech's best arms as he has posted a staff-best 1.50 ERA in his last three appearances that includes: 12 innings pitched, just two earned runs and 13 strikeouts.
McElroy, a senior from Dallas, has posted two of the best outings of his career in back-to-back games for the Red Raiders. Against Western Illinois, he retired six straight batters in two innings of work and followed up that performance with three-innings of stellar relief work against DBU that earned him his first career save.
BLAIR SETS CAREER GRAND SLAM RECORD
Senior shortstop and Preseason All-American Cameron Blair added yet another record to his collection during Sunday's game against Western Illinois. In the third inning, Blair launched his fifth career grand slam and that sets a new school and Big 12 Conference record.
Last week against Northern Illinois, Blair tied former Red Raider Nick Blankenship (2001-02) and Oklahoma's Jose Montenegro (1997-98) with his fourth career grand slam. Blair and Montenegro are tied for the Big 12 record of grand slams in a single season as Blair hit three in 2004 while Montenegro hit three in 1998.
RED RAIDER TIDBITS
- Friday's game against New Mexico State will mark the 43rd match-up between the two schools with Tech leading the all-time series 32-11. Saturday's game against Lamar will be the first ever diamond match-up for the two schools. Tech and UTSA have played just two times before with Tech winning both games in 2000.
- Sophomore right-handed pitcher Randy Gattis made his first start of the season against Western Illinois and earned the win as he tossed 5 2/3 innings allowing three runs on one hit. Gattis is now 2-0 on the young season and is second on the staff with a 3.55 ERA.
- Junior southpaw Carleton Hargrove picked up third save of the season against Western Illinois in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader. His third save maintains his lead in the Big 12 Conference.
- Senior center fielder Cody Fuller, who moved into fourth place on the school's all-time stolen bases list last week, now totals 65 stolen bases in his four year career. Fuller needs just 9 more stolen bases to move into third place all-time.
- Senior catcher Cooper Fouts returned to action this weekend after an injury forced him out of the final two games of the NIU series and last Tuesday's game at TCU. Fouts was sidelined by a strained oblique muscle but was able to play in all three games against Western Illinois. He finished the weekend with a .500 batting average along with two RBI and two runs scored.
- Senior right fielder Madison Edwards had a big weekend at the plate for Texas Tech as he led all hitters with a .571 average over three games. Edwards was 4-for-7 at the dish with three doubles and three RBI.
- Texas Tech entered the national rankings for the first time this season as Tech came in at No. 28 in this week's Collegiate Baseball Magazine's Top 30 Poll.
A LOOK AT THE TOURNAMENT FIELD
NEW MEXICO STATE: The Aggies enter the tournament with a 5-7 overall record after sweeping Chicago State in a four-game series this weekend. The Aggies have a team batting average of .334 and are led by right fielder Mark Aranda's who is hitting .472 with four home runs.
LAMAR: The Cardinals enter the weekend with a 7-2 record after dropping games this past weekend to No. 15 Mississippi and No. 10 Rice. Lamar has a .300 team batting average while the pitching staff totals a combined ERA of 3.04.
UTSA: UTSA comes into the Rockhounds Classic with an 0-8 record after falling to Texas A&M 4-1 on Tuesday. UTSA has a team batting average of .225 and a staff ERA of 6.08.
